Rhythm is the organization of sounds in time.
Beat is the pulse of music. It is the division of music into even slices of time. It is what you tap your foot to.
Meter is a pattern of strong and weak beats.
Most music is based upon a two, three or four beat pattern with the strong beat being the first beat of the pattern.
A Bar Line is a vertical line drawn to divide up the beats into groups based upon the meter. It is placed just before the strong beat of a meter pattern.
𝄀 • • • • 𝄀
A Measure is the space between two bar lines. The number of beats in a measure is equal to the type of meter.
Duple Meter is two beats per measure.
play_circle 𝄀 • • 𝄀 • • 𝄀 • • 𝄀 • • 𝄀
Triple Meter is three beats per measure. Click on examples to hear them played.
play_circle 𝄀 • • • 𝄀 • • • 𝄀 • • • 𝄀 • • • 𝄀
Quadruple Meter is four beats per measure.
play_circle 𝄀 • • • • 𝄀 • • • • 𝄀 • • • • 𝄀 • • • • 𝄀
A Time Signature is a symbol placed at the beginning of a piece of music to show the type of meter used in the piece.
The most common meter is called Common Time which has four beats in each measure. The symbol for common time is simply a C.
𝄴 • • • • 𝄀